


Shooting Stars Across the Sunset

by Kokoai



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Crystallization Disease, M/M, Suicide Notes, Unrequited Love, star tear disease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25276177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kokoai/pseuds/Kokoai
Summary: Riku had known the diseases existed. Knew that unrequited love could kill a person, always thought he'd be the type to at least confess his feelings if it ever happened to him. But he couldn't, not when his heart yearned for the person who had eyes on Tenn-nii.Only one choice existed in Riku's mind.
Relationships: Nanase Riku/Yaotome Gaku
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	Shooting Stars Across the Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is only loosely edited bc I just don't have the energy to heavily edit every single fic, but I want to share more things I write even if they aren't the best. I can always come back and rework them if I feel like it, but moving forward I'll post a mix of 'polished' and 'rough' fics.
> 
> This one just ate at me after a friend had the brilliant idea to combine hoshinamida and kousekibyou  
> you could easily google those I'm sure, but basically:  
> hoshinamida/star tears = disease where unrequited love causes you to cry tears that are like glass and it's incredibly painful and eventually makes the person go blind unless their feelings are returned  
> kousekibyou/crystallization disease= unrequited feelings resulting in the person's body slowly crystallizing the longer their feelings go unreturned until it eventually kills them. 
> 
> Combining these two I decided on star tears that crystallize the body when they make contact until the person is completely encased.

Beneath the cacophony of sounds from all the idols crammed into one room, Riku slipped away mostly unnoticed. The adults were drunk anyway, so that took most of the attention. He figured he could get away for a bit, deal with this, and rejoin them. 

He hadn’t been able to figure out what, who, the cause was until recently. And then the tears had progressively gotten more painful. Oftentimes he would bleed when they rolled down his skin. 

It had taken many times of watching Yaotome-san drunk and affectionate with everyone, for Riku to realize that the garnet droplets only happened when his chest hurt after watching Yaotome-san. And it especially hurt when he watched the object of his affection flirt with his own brother. There was enough evidence to convince Riku he could never compare. 

The tears rolled and he winced at tiny razor blades sliding down his cheeks. As the shards pattered against the sink like hail, he closed his eyes, but that only caused more pain. If the tears pooled they just stabbed his eyes, if he let them go, they sliced whatever they touched. 

He looked up into the mirror to see the trails of blood already mixing with the liquid tears that fell behind each star like a comet tail. Each sob that bubbled in his throat only made him cry more. Then there was the blurry black slowly encroaching all around. 

The more he let Yaotome-san flood his thoughts, the more stars fell. This had been going on for at least four, maybe longer, he honestly didn’t know anymore. He couldn’t say anything though, not when Yaotome-san had gone on to say how Tenn and Ryuu were the most important people to him, that he loved them in ways he could never love anyone else.

That meant there was no room in his heart for Riku… for a dying star. 

It was silly of him anyway. Who was he to love _the_ Yaotome Gaku? TRIGGER’s leader? When they most they had talked was occasional hangouts that were more side effects of work engagements. 

From that first painful wince of Riku’s chest he knew. As uncommon as this disease was, he knew it from books he’d read. Ever since that first crystal that he’d held between his fingers, he knew. 

Knew that he only had two options.

Now, as a bloody tear fell and hit his arm only to burst into a cloud of shimmering dust that solidified on his skin, he knew. 

Knew that his fate was sealed. 

Quietly as he peaked around corners, he slid into his room. He swallowed his feelings, forced the tears behind a wall, ignored the searing pain in his eyes, long enough to grab a pad of paper and pen. 

As he started to write, tears slipped past and dotted the note with red. How he wished he could rejoin them, could see them one last time. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t risk them seeing. 

With his note gripped tightly in hand, he slinked through the hall. The party had mostly wrapped up. The adults were passed out, TRIGGER had gone home, and Iori was frantically cleaning up. Riku moved fast, out the door, and not caring if it made a sound. Iori would dismiss it. No one would realize Riku was gone until it was too late.

His chest had twisted for weeks as he planned out his actions in advance for when this inevitable time would come. 

If he were going to die, he wanted it to be in that place, that one place that had been where his feelings for Gaku bloomed and grew. It was just a small spot near the river, under a bridge and beside a field of flowers. 

They had often met there after sunset, or would be there to watch the sunset as they talked away their problems. Once, Riku still thought Gaku may have been drunk then, they had held hands. That had been the first night shooting stars fell from his sunset eyes. 

Now, as he tucked himself under the bridge, the cold air still managing to whip against him, he let those stars fall freely. They cut into his skin like a thousand needles, each one bursting into crystal dust after piercing him. Slowly, as his chest hurt more with every breath, he truly felt cornered. 

He would die here. He knew it already, but now it sunk in. 

Days could pass before anyone found him. Maybe a passerby would find him tomorrow. But there was only one person who would know to look here. 

He slid the note under his foot as he pulled his knees against his chest. As the crystallization crawled over his skin like moss over a rock, his chest heaved. His eyes turned to the sky as he wished on the stars that it would end quickly. That this pain would burn itself out soon. 

He let all thoughts of Gaku flow freely...the more pain he felt, the more he cried and the quicker his body became encased in red crystal. How cruel it was that he’d cry a stone that represented love. He almost chuckled except the sound caught in his throat and made him cry more. 

Briefly he thought about reaching for his phone, having a message ready to send...maybe even leave Gaku one last good morning message...but he hadn’t even brought his phone with him. 

In the end, he would die alone, just as he’d planned. He hadn’t given himself any escape, no chance to beg for help. Even running was an option stripped from him as the crystallization had spread over his forearms and knees already. 

All he could do was wait. Wait for his body to grow too cold, too weak to keep his heart pumping, and let him escape forever. 

The crystal creeping around him kept him awake, it wasn’t painful per se, no more than the star tears had been —his cheeks were covered so that he at least wasn’t being cut anymore— but it was an unsettling sensation that left him gasping for air. 

As the hours ticked by, Riku had no sense of how long he’d been there. Only when sunlight started to streak across the sky had he realized morning was coming. So he wouldn’t die in the stillness of night, but the beginning of a new day would be his end. 

He was cold, but he couldn’t shiver, he couldn’t even move his head anymore. Likely his body was almost entirely encased. Every limb had gone numb ages ago, the movements of his chest had lessened. He could barely breathe now. 

Soon he would be free. Maybe he could be reborn into a life less cruel. Perhaps he would be rewarded for choosing to die alone, away from his loved ones. 

Ah, he could barely move but managed to move his foot, just enough to ensure the letter could be pulled out from under him. Somehow, his lips curved into a smile. At least Gaku would know how he felt. 

His eyes fell on the letter, he let his eyelids fall. Maybe now that he couldn’t feel anything he could sleep and the crystals could finish closing around him. 

Only for a moment were his eyes closed before they opened to a sudden noise. A familiar voice. Two voices. 

_Gaku? Tenn-nii...I get to see you one last time…_

His eyes shut again, with the last puff of air from his lungs, the crystals slid over his lips and then the entire structure squeezed what little life was left out of him. 

  
  
  


Gaku crumbled before the mound of garnet that was unmistakably Riku...even with the facets reflecting sunlight and making it only a vague human shape. Gaku knew. Tenn knew too. 

The moment they’d stopped running, a single star had bounced across the ground towards them. They had only been seconds too late. 

Tenn had been the one to see the letter, but he gave it to Gaku. Gaku’s stomach lurched as he unfolded the paper and red the first words,

_Yaotome-san...Gaku, ah I hope it’s okay if I call you that…_

_I’m sorry you had to see me like this. I wish there would have been better circumstances… I wish I could have told you with my own voice how much I love you._

_But I know you love Tenn-nii more than anyone, and I couldn’t bring myself to come between you two. I love both of you more than I’ll ever be able to say. I guess my death in itself will say how much I love you...but let Tenn-nii know that I love him a lot too?_

_I know it’s selfish of me, but for my sake, wherever I might be now, make Tenn-nii happy okay? That’s all I need to rest peacefully._

By the end, Gaku trembled so much he could barely hold onto the letter. As Tenn frantically demanded to know what the letter said, Gaku’s voice was lost. All he could do was pass the letter to Tenn, and watch as Tenn’s face twisted until tears were streaming down his cheeks. 

Gaku fell against Tenn, instantly a mess of gross sobs. Tenn tried to hold himself together, to be the stronger of the two, but that only lasted seconds before he sobbed against Gaku. 

Even as the others came to surround them, neither of them could speak. Tenn had been the one to hand the letter off and not a word was spoken until long after everyone had shed their tears. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on twitter @kokoai1429


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